“I think a lot of people jumped the gun when I said I wanted to be a free agent,” he said. “And yeah, I want people to come play in New York. I want them to want to play in New York. I want New York to be that place where guys want to come play.”

No. 2:Hayward, Jazz fail to agree to contact extension — Contract extension were doled out to several members of the 2010 Draft class during the offseason and training camp including John Wall, Larry Sanders, Paul George and Derrick Favors. Jazz forward Gordon Hayward and his representatives had been in talks with Utah’s front office about a deal, but nothing materialized before yesterday’s deadline. Sam Amick of USA Today has more on why the deal fell through and what’s next:

When it comes to NBA extensions, it’s a calculated risk any way you slice it. The only thing that changes is the side that’s rolling the dice.

So it was that the Utah Jazz and small forward Gordon Hayward couldn’t reach an agreement before the midnight ET deadline on Thursday night …

…

As veteran agent Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports and Entertainment explained it after months of talks with Jazz officials regarding Hayward didn’t pay off, it’s a tough task to pull off when both parties know that the now-or-never moment doesn’t happen until the offseason. The evidence supports that claim, as only six players from the draft class of 2010 signed extensions in the latest go-round: Indiana small forward Paul George, Milwaukee center Larry Sanders, Washington point guard John Wall, Sacramento center DeMarcus Cousins, Utah forward Derrick Favors, and Memphis guard Quincy Pondexter.

“The most difficult deals to do are extensions — other than the max,” Bartelstein told USA TODAY Sports by phone just before the deadline passed. “When someone is offering you a max, then it’s easy. Those are easy. Other than that, they’re difficult because … there’s not a marketplace, so the teams sometimes have a view of wanting to get something for doing it early, and the player wants to get what he perceives his value to be, so they’re hard to do.”

As it pertains to Hayward, there were strong signs in the days leading up to the deadline that he was leaning toward taking the restricted free agency route. The Jazz were clearly hoping to secure Hayward after agreeing to terms with Favors on a four-year, $49 million deal, but they’ll now have the chance to match the highest bidder this summer when the 23-year-old may be the leading man among the younger class of free agents.

Bartelstein was quick to compliment the Jazz for their handling of the negotiations, and dispelled any notion that this is a sign that Hayward is looking to head elsewhere.

“The main thing is that the Jazz put in a tremendous amount of time and effort into wanting to get something done, and we put in a tremendous amount of time and effort to get it done,” Bartelstein said. “It was not due to a lack of trying. That’s for sure. There was a lot of time and a lot of energy spent the last few months in working at it, but sometimes you just can’t come up with something that both sides feel good about. That doesn’t change at all — at all — how Gordon feels about the Jazz.”

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No. 3:Suns, Bledsoe can’t come to extension agreement — Suns guard Eric Bledsoe had an impressive preseason and led Phoenix to a victory over the Portland Trail Blazers in their season-opener. Those games represent all of Bledsoe’s career to date in Arizona and although the 2010 draftee was eligible for a contract extension up until last night, the Suns were have a hard time determining what, exactly, to pay him if they offered him such a deal. That lack of time together may have been one of the tipping points in the Suns’ decision to not offer Bledsoe an extension, writes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic:

The Suns and Eric Bledsoe have been talking about a possible contract extension that could have locked up the point guard through 2018.

They could not find common terms by Thursday night’s deadline but the Suns still intend for Bledsoe to be part of their future.

…

“There is no rookie extension with Eric but that doesn’t in any way suggest that we are not excited that Eric is a Sun and we look forward to Eric being a Suns for a long time,” said Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby, who has been engaged in extension talks over the past month with Mark Termini, the former agent who works as a negotiator for Bledsoe’s agent, Rich Paul.

“It’s a hard thing to do. We had numerous conversations over the past few weeks. We had a good, professional exchange of ideas.”

The task of extending Bledsoe was a challenging one, especially with Bledsoe logging one game as a Suns before the 9 p.m. deadline struck Thursday night. Bledsoe has been a backup for his first three NBA seasons with the Clippers but surely will increase his value this season as a starter and focal point for the Suns. He is only 23 and was highly sought when the Suns made a trade to acquire him from the Clippers in July.

…

“Both sides are trying to make projections on what Eric’s performance and new role are going to be,” Babby said Thursday night. “Those projections are not necessarily precise and, from the Suns’ perspective, it needs to be considered from the context that Eric will be a restricted free agent in the summer, which gives us matching rights. In the end, it seemed prudent to wait until July. In the meantime, we will be rooting for Eric to have a great season.”

Babby would not characterize how close the sides came in negotiations. The parties assumedly were talking about a four-year deal, rather than the option of a five-year deal for a designated player to get a maximum-salary contract.

It appears that the talks did not turn contentious, which is a danger in such situations.

“It was completely professional, not acrimonious,” Babby said. “Everyone understood the task was a difficult one because of the nature of the circumstances and the context of restricted free agency.”

No. 4:Kings decline to pick up Fredette’s option, pass on Vasquez extension — Back during the 2011 Draft, the Kings took part in a three-team deal that, in part, helped them land former BYU sharpshooter Jimmer Fredette. Since landing in Sacramento, though, Fredette’s playing time has been inconsistent and when it came time to decide to pick up his option for 2014-15, the Kings passed on it. As well, new starting point guard Greivis Vasquez, whom Sacramento acquired in the offseason in the Tyreke Evans trade, was eligible for a contract extension, but the team passed on that, too. Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee has more on the moves:

Those who have wanted the Kings to “Free Jimmer” might get their wish.

The Kings on Thursday declined to pick up the fourth-year option on guard Jimmer Fredette’s contract for the 2014-15 season, which would have paid the 2011 first-round draft pick a little more than $3 million. The deadline to do so was Thursday at 9 p.m.

Therefore, Fredette will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. The Kings could re-sign him at a reduced salary, but the decision likely means this will be Fredette’s final season with the team.

It also means Fredette probably would bring more value in a trade because his expiring deal would create salary cap space for next summer’s free-agent class. The trade deadline is Feb. 20.

…

During the offseason, the team drafted Ben McLemore and Ray McCallum and acquired Greivis Vasquez from New Orleans. The Kings’ front office likes Isaiah Thomas, and Marcus Thornton has two years left on his contract.

A huge crowd greeted Fredette at Sacramento International Airport when he arrived following the draft, and he remains extremely popular, even though his playing time with the Kings has been inconsistent.

…

Thursday also was the deadline to reach agreement on contract extensions for 2010 first-round draft picks.

The Kings had two players eligible for deals, Vasquez and forward Patrick Patterson. Neither landed an extension.

Sacramento can make both players restricted free agents after his season, giving the Kings the right to match an offer from another team and retain them.

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No. 5:Adelman promises Williams will get his chance — Since being taken with the No. 2 overall selection in the 2011 Draft, Minnesota Timberwolves forward Derrick Williams has had a wildly inconsistent role on the team. Last season, he played in 78 games, starting 56 of them, and saw his averages in scoring (12.0 ppg), rebounding (5.5 rpg) and shooting (43.0 pct) hit career highs. Then came the season-opener on Wednesday night in which Williams failed to get off the bench despite being healthy. Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman and Williams addressed the player’s role after Thursday’s practice and Adelman vows that Williams will eventually get his chance, writes Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune:

Wolves coach Rick Adleman had a couple things to say about Derrick Williams. First, the third-year forward will get his chance to play. Second, we should all calm down on the issue.

“I don’t worry about him as much as you guys do,” Adelman said after Thursday’s practice. Williams, who works at both forward positions, did not play in Wednesday’s opening-night victory over Orlando. A former second-overall pick, Williams’ playing time has fluctuated since he joined the team.

“He’s going to get a chance to play when it looks like there is a good opportunity for him,” Adelman said. “But there are other guys, too. Right now Robbie Hummel’s played very well, the whole month he’s been here. It could be one of those guys. It could be (Shabazz Muhammad), who has played well. Nobody has separated himself. (Williams’) best spot is the four spot, and it’s almost impossible to get him minutes at the four spot.”

Williams, asked about his situation, said he wasn’t disappointed. “No, we won, you can’t be disappointed when we win,” he said.

But on the matter of patience? “I’ve been patient two years now,” he said. “So we’ll see. I don’t know.’’

Interestingly, Williams retweeted an item originally tweeted by Los Angeles Clippers forward Jamal Crawford Wednesday night. “Watched a bunch of games tonight,” Crawford wrote. “One thing that is clear. Situation, and opportunity has a lot to do with success in the NBA.’’

But when will his come? The power forward position is where Kevin Love plays, and Dante Cunningham is usually his backup. That leaves the small forward position. And for Williams to play there, Adelman said he needs to see the right matchup.